The present invention relates to a fixture for positioning pedal anchoring cleats on soles of cycling shoes.
Cycling requires the shoes worn by the athlete to be optimally anchored to the pedals of the bicycle.
The effective transmission of the athlete's force to the pedal and the reduction of risks of slippage or in any case of relative motion between the foot and the pedal, which clearly entail energy dissipation and even dangerous accidents, depend on the anchoring of the shoe to the pedal.
Initially, the shoe used to be anchored to the pedal by means of laces which were appropriately fixed to said pedal and, as a whole, formed a harness for the front part of the shoe.
Fastening and adjustment were then performed by means of a buckle which could be arranged in a position above the action of the athlete.
However, this system for mutually connecting the shoe and the pedal, although being extensively tested, was not free from drawbacks, particularly in relation to the possibility to adapt to the various body shapes of the athlete and to a certain difficulty in adjustment, especially during travel.
In order to obviate these drawbacks, cleats are currently universally used which, associated with anchoring means provided on the pedal, quickly and easily lock the shoe, and therefore the foot, to the pedal.
Said cleats are of course shaped so as to allow a certain adjustment of their position, so that each athlete can adapt the relative position of the shoe and of the pedal according to his individual body shape and physical characteristics, thus achieving optimum transfer of the force applied to the pedal and therefore of bicycle propulsion as a whole.
In normal cycling practice an athlete gradually refines, over time, his awareness of his individual optimum position with respect to the pedal; however, whenever it is necessary to replace the shoe, due to wear or breakage, the problem of positioning the cleat reoccurs.
Indeed, many cyclists prefer to purchase always the same type of shoe in order to achieve as quickly as possible an optimum adjustment of the position of the shoe with respect to the pedal.
However, it is evident that this practice is rather constraining; further, even if the same shoe type is to be preferred, the time inevitably comes when the model of said shoe is replaced by new models which perhaps have different contours and therefore the need arises again to find the optimum positioning of the cleat.
The problem of positioning the shoe and therefore the cleat with respect to the pedal is currently solved substantially with a long trial and error process.
Obviously, such a trial and error process, besides being long and work-intensive, often no longer provides the optimum results that had perhaps been achieved previously.
Unsuccessful attempts also cause imbalances which easily cause tendon inflammations which cause severe impairment to athletes.